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Archive for the ‘Gardening & Herbs’ Category

It was sunny and 82 degrees in San Antonio today. Here’s how I burned off my free day:
– Got lunch for my husband and me, and we had a picnic outside by the pool
– Took care of some spring cleaning tasks, then spent over an hour doing yoga on my patio (with my freshly-planted container garden).
– Went for a pleasant late-afternoon walk around our neighborhood with my husband
– Soaked my feet in epsom salts with a blend of essential oils and a dab of coconut oil, then took a luxurious, hot shower.

It was a pretty great day. I’m thankful for the gifts I have been given in this life.

*****
So, I’m sure you want to hear about the garden I mentioned. Of course you do!

At our old place, we lived on the top floor with a huge L-shaped patio and plenty of great sunlight (I’m sure being right next to the water helped that). Now, we are on the first floor, next to a lot of trees (not much sunlight), and our patio is a postage stamp compared to what we’re used to. This year I downsized a lot– because of space restrictions, and because I don’t know how successful my endeavors will be.

I’ve planted tomatoes, kale, 3 kinds of peppers, and herbs. I also received a bunch of succulents for my birthday, but those will do fine in this space (and even if they don’t, it’s not like we can eat them).

It certainly doesn’t look like much now, but I’m praying it will bless us with at least a small bounty.

Craig was busy today: He picked most of our remaining peppers and set about pickling them, along with some okra and carrots from the farmer’s market. He blanched the tabasco peppers and put them under vinegar to make hot sauce (far left).

Meanwhile, I worked on our fall garden out on the patio, mostly transplanting seedlings (plenty of basil, romaine lettuce, and collards. Still need a few more tomato plants). Happy fall!

A big thunderstorm hit late last night, so this morning Craig and I had to do plant rescue. Two sets of newly-sprouted seedling were completely submerged, and a few containers had svereal inches of standing water. (I didn’t take any pictures. Was too concerned with SAVE MY PLANTS OMG) It took two of us to dump the excess water out of the bigger containers. A lot of soil got dumped out with the water, along with a few freshly-sprouted tomato seedlings and those basil seeds I just planted yesterday. I packed some fresh dirt on top of the soaked plants to replace what was lost/soak up some of the water in the existing soil. We put them in the sun to dry, and I think (hope) they’ll be fine.

I bet people who garden in the ground don’t have to put up with this crap.

This morning Craig and I got our patio garden ready for spring. We harvested the very last of our winter tomatoes (and what good tomatoes they are! We’ve got enough to last us about another week; I’ll be sad when they’re all gone), pulled up all the old and dead plants, and filled new pots.

We made two T-shirt planters for our tabasco peppers: we took an wire basket hanger, stretched an old t-shirt over the inside, filled with dirt and voila! We had one last year, and the bell pepper plant inside it grew to an impressive size (although it needs to be watered religiously).

We had a total of 7– SEVEN– basil plants going last year, until the Christmas/New Years storms decimated nearly all of them. Only one plant hung on, and is now regrowing nicely (you can still see the ruins of the old plant in there. Also note the festive little Easter eggs).

Two of last year’s brussels sprouts survived the winter and started to regrow. An old aquarium makes a great planter!

We’ve got five varieties of tomatoes planted (Early girl, Better
Boy, Goliath, two kind of cherry tomatoes, and a yellow variety), and we’re trying to grow spinach as well. We haven’t had much luck with spinach in the past, but hopefully the third time is the charm. If only we could get our cats to leave them
alone…

I’m hoping to add some more herbs– our rosemary plant has seen better days, and I would love to have some fresh oregano and thyme.

We may live in an apartment, but we love to grow (and catch!) our own groceries. Craig says if only he could sneak a milk goat onto our patio, he would be in heaven!

IN A NUTSHELL:

I'm a dance teacher, choreographer, wife, and homemaker enjoying a peaceful (if somewhat quirky) life on the Texas Gulf Coast. I'm trying to get my blogging groove back but it's not really working so far.